Abstract:
The International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) maintains a network of drifting buoys to provide meteorological and oceanographic data for real-time operational requirements and research purposes including support to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the World Weather Watch (WWW) Programme. An average of 25 buoys are in service at any time. The IABP drifting buoy data products ... described here are 12-hour interpolated pressure, temperature, position, and ice velocity grids available by year from 1979 through the present. Drifting buoys measure atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and other geophysical quantities. These data are processed at the University of Washington's Polar Science Center, and are interpolated to produce gridded fields. Data are usually updated by May of each year, and are available online from the Polar Science Center. NSIDC catalogs the data set and provides this documentation with links to the Polar Science Center's IABP site in order to publicize and facilitate access to the data. Several related data sets are available from the Polar Science Center's IABP site, including a CD-ROM containing IABP data and derived products from 1979 through 1999, an ocean buoy data set with temperature and salinity from drifting buoys from 1985 through 1994, GIF files graphically depicting gridded products, and a surface air temperature (SAT) data set (the IABP/POLES SAT data set) that combines data from buoys, manned drifting stations, and meteorological land stations.

Quality
Atmospheric pressure is typically measured using barometers with errors of 1 mb. Air temperature is measured using a variety of instruments. The thermistors typically have measurement errors of 0.1oC, but where these instruments are installed on the buoys necessitates some care in interpreting the data. Prior to 1991, most measurements were taken from thermistors placed inside the hull of air ... dropped buoys, and were used primarily to calibrate the barometers. These buoys were sometimes covered with snow during winter, and were often warmed from insulation during summer. In 1992, the IABP began deploying buoys which measured true air temperatures from shielded thermistors at 2 meters height. For a detailed discussion of the temperature measurements from buoys, see Rigor et al. 2000. Most buoys are positioned by the Argos systems on NOAA polar orbiting satellites. The Argos system results in positions with a measurement error of 300 m. Global Position Systems have been installed on many of the newer buoys, and can be positioned with errors of 100 m.